Spain commits to contributing to the steps towards definitive peace in the Middle East

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, participated this Monday in the signing ceremony of the peace plan for Gaza with the commitment that Spain is determined to contribute to the steps that must be taken from now on to achieve definitive peace in the Middle East. Sánchez was among the thirty leaders who attended this summit in the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh, sponsored by the President of Egypt, Abdelfattah al-Sisi, and the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Only these two presidents spoke at the event, and the rest of the heads of state or government bore witness with their presence to the support for the plan that has achieved the ceasefire in Gaza, the release this very Monday of the Israeli hostages who remained in the hands of Hamas, and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.

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This is the message that sources from the Spanish Government explained that Sánchez took to Sharm el-Sheikh: full support for the plan and his desire that, with will, progress can be made towards a definitive peace in the region. Sánchez already summarized his expectations last week, when after the agreement between Israel and Hamas was made public, he said that now it's time to dialogue, assist the civilian population and look to the future "with hope, but also with justice and with memory, so that the atrocities experienced are never repeated again". Consolidate and move forward
The Spanish position was also made clear by its Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who was part of the Spanish delegation and, in statements to journalists, when asked what Spain can contribute, stressed that it has already contributed from the beginning by demanding peace, the end of Israeli military operations, the unconditional release of the hostages and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. "Many of those things have already been achieved; it is a matter -he added- of consolidating them and moving forward in what we have been betting on from the beginning: implementing the two-State solution to allow a realistic and viable Palestinian State that can coexist and live with Israel, guaranteeing prosperity", he added. In that solution, the Spanish Government intends to continue to insist, after it was at the forefront of the last wave of countries that have recognized Palestine as a State. But the celebration of peace detached it from the continuity of the investigations for genocide against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, because, he specified, "the responsibilities are there and that is not going to change". "There is a case before the International Court of Justice, precisely based on the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and there is also an investigation by the International Criminal Court," he recalled. They added that the Spanish Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the matter. Praise for the United States
But, after that reminder, he insisted that the important thing about this day is the hope that brought together leaders from all over the world in Sharm el-Sheikh to achieve definitive peace. Albares praised the work of the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey to achieve peace and guaranteed that Spain will continue to contribute to all efforts for the total solution of the crisis in the Middle East. A solution in which Spain flatly rejected that Hamas could have a role in the future governance of a Palestinian state. In the framework of the summit, Sánchez, according to the Egyptian government, participated in a leaders' meeting in which President Al Sisi asked European leaders to support Egypt and Jordan in the training of Palestinian police to ensure security in Gaza. In that meeting were present the King of Jordan, Abdullah II; the presidents of France and Turkey, Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani; the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz; the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni; the one from the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, and the one from Canada, Mark Carney, as well as the Saudi Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan. The peace signing ceremony fostered a cordial greeting and smiles between Sánchez and the President of the United States four days after Trump suggested Spain's withdrawal from NATO due to what he considers a lack of commitment to defense spending within the Alliance. Position before which the Government assured that it is very calm, because Spain is a full member and committed to NATO and meets its capacity objectives as well as the United States. Therefore, before the greeting between Sánchez and Trump, Albares had already assured that he did not expect a bad gesture from the American president, because what happened this Monday in Egypt was a summit for peace and hope in the Middle East.